Needle cylinder structure for circular knitting machines



W. E. WISTER May 7, 1968 NEEDLE CYLINDER STRUCTURE FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 19, 1966 United States Patent 3,381,500 NEEDLE CYLINDER STRUCTURE FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES William E. Wister, Wernersville, Pa., assignor to Textile Machine Works, Wyomissing, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 543,638

2 Claims. (Cl. 66-115) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A needle cylinder for a circular knitting machine including guide wall elements soldered in a slotted cylinder. To ensure retention of the guide wall elements in the slots, the cylinder is swaged at a notch in each element to cause material of the cylinder to flow over and encase the portion of each element in the slot at the notch.

This invention relates to circular knitting machines and more particularly to the needle cylinder structure of such machines.

conventionally, in circular knitting machines the needle cylinders are provided with guide walls for the needles which are secured in slots in the cylinder as by soldering. Due in part to defective soldering procedures, to the use of lubricants having detergents which tend to attack the solder, and to the constant twisting of the guide walls by the butts of the needles as the needles are operated by the knitting cams, and particularly in machines having a plurality of knitting stations, the soldered joints between the needle guide walls and cylinder tend to break midway between the ends of the walls. When this occurs it permits the center portions of the walls to bulge from the cylinder slots and strike the needle operating cams which results in damage to the walls and in some instances also causing injury to the cams.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel needle cylinder structure for circular knitting machines that will overcome the above noted and other objections to prior needle cylinder structures.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle cylinder for a circular knitting machine in which the needle guiding walls are initially secured in slots in the cylinder by soldering or the like and in which the guide walls are additionally secured in the slots of the cylinder by swaging or otherwise deforming material of the cylinder over atleast one portion of the guide walls intermediate the ends thereof.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent from the following description of the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings the invention resides in the novel features of construction as hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view through the needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine having needle guide walls secured therein in accordance with the instant invention:

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to a portion of the needle cylinder of FIG. 1 before the needle guide walls are inserted therein; and

FIG. 4 is a view of one of the needle walls of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings there is shown a needle cylinder 10 for a circular knitting machine having axially extending walls 11 defining slots 12 in the outer periphery thereof to receive preformed guide walls 15 between which needles 16 of the machine are guided through knitting movements under the control of needle operating cams, indicated diagrammatically in dot-and-dash outline at 17 in FIG. 1, acting on butts 20 of the needles.

conventionally, the guide walls 15 are secured to the walls 11 defining the slots 12 in the cylinder 10 by soldered joints 18. However, due primarily to defects in the soldered joints between the guide walls 15 and walls 11 of the cylinder, and the constant twisting of the guide walls caused by the needles 16 as the butts 20 thereof engage the operating cams 17 the joints often break intermediate the ends of the guide walls thereby permitting the center portions of the guide walls to bulge outwardly in the cylinder slots to strike the cams 17 which results in damage to both the guide walls and earns.

In order to overcome this condition in accordance with the invention each guide wall 15 is provided with a notch 21 intermediate its ends, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the notch being defined by side walls 22 and an inner wall 23 which lies inwardly of the outer peripheral surfaces of the walls 11 of the cylinder when the guide wall is in operating position in a slot 12 in the cylinder. Following assembly of the guide walls 15 in the slots 12 of the cylinder 10, the guide walls are initially secured in the cylinder by soldering in the usual manner. Thereafter, the walls 11 of the cylinder within the side walls 22 of notches 21 0f the guide walls 15 are subjected to pressure by a roller or the like, indicated diagrammatically at 25 (FIG. 1), to press or swage the material of the walls 11 inwardly above the lower walls 23 of notches 21, as shown at 26 in FIG. 2.

It is believed to be obvious from the foregoing that the needle cylinder of the instant invention provides a structure that not only resists the twisting forces in the needle guide walls that tend to break the soldered joint securing the guide walls in the slots of the cylinder but also acts to prevent the guide walls from bulging outwardly in the slots of the cylinder when the soldered joints between the guide walls and cylinder are broken.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described, by which the above described results are obtained, can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A needle cylinder for a circular knitting machine having walls defining slots in the outer peripheral surface thereof, guide walls in said slots having portions extending outwardly beyond the outer peripheral surface of said cylinder for guiding needles, and soldered joints securing said guide walls in said slots in said cylinder, the improvement comprising additional means for securing said guide walls in said slots of said cylinder including at least one notch in each said guide walls defined by side surfaces and an inner surface, said inner surface of said notch being positioned inwardly of said outer peripheral surface of said cylinder when said guide walls are in said slots in said cylinder, and means on said cylinder overlying the inner surface of said notch within the side surfaces thereof, said last mentioned means comprising material displaced from the slot walls in said cylinder.

2. In a cylinder according to claim 1 in which the width of said material displaced from the slot defining Walls 4 in said cylinder is less than the width between said side surfaces defining said notches in said guide Walls.

References Qited FOREIGN PATENTS 604,238 6/1948 Great Britain.

WILLIAM C. REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner. 

